Transcription errors on parking tickets written by police officers are one of the factors that lead to dismissal of such tickets and thereby considerable loss of revenue for city councils.

1. General Transcription Errors Leading to Dismissal of Parking Tickets
Transcription errors on parking tickets written by police officers are one of the factors that
lead to dismissal of such tickets and thereby considerable loss of revenue for city councils.
Many tickets are dismissed due to faulty citations. Dismissed tickets include incomplete
tickets, those that are illegible, and those that contain wrong license plate number/vehicle
identification number for the cited car. Parking officers cannot however, be always blamed for
issuing faulty tickets – especially in cases such as when a license plate has been illegally
switched or when permits including disabled parking permits are not properly displayed.
Recently TRIBLIVE News reported how the mystery surrounding a motorist’s unpaid parking
tickets was solved. The case in question is one involving 2 dozen parking tickets that were
dismissed for a motorist in Latrobe. This accepted practice of dismissing parking tickets was
questioned by Jim Gebicki, a former mayor who demanded an explanation of this practice and
the number of tickets dismissed in this manner. Councilman Robert Forish questioned the
listing of a particular license plate 24 times. According to City Manager Alex Graziani, those
tickets were listed following a woman’s appearance before the magistrate on account of 26
unpaid parking tickets. She was sent to jail, where she spent 24 days and then the tickets
were dismissed considering the time served as the penalty.
It was also found that there was a discrepancy between the records provided by the city
manager as regards the dismissed tickets and the police records. Graziani had an explanation
for this too. He pointed out that police records include tickets dismissed at city hall as well as
those voided by police officers who made transcription errors, tickets dismissed by the
magistrate’s office, and those issued in the Excela Latrobe Hospital area (sometimes issued by
hospital staff).
Graziani’s dismissal records show that around 7.7% (350) of 4500 tickets issued in 2013 have
been dismissed. In 2009, 6% of tickets were dismissed. Though there is no formal dismissal
policy, Graziani has taken steps to better the procedure. He has developed a form that can be
used only in the following scenarios:
•
If the violator
o
o
o
o
failed to adequately display a handicapped parking placard
was completing business-to-business loading/unloading
experienced technical hitches in the online Pango mobile parking application
had a medical emergency.
The city manager has issued a memorandum that directs all appeals to Unity District Judge,
until city council votes on a policy.
Appeals are governed by rules different from those relevant to a trial. The transcript of the
testimony from the trial is very important and the appeal court relies on it and the written
submissions from both parties.
Appeal cases are usually handled by lawyers who specialize in appeals and have plenty of
appellate experience. Appeal lawyers and their paralegals are usually supported in their legal
transcription and legal research requirements by legal transcription companies.